The Phoblographer

Portrait photography is special. The process of making a person’s portrait is always intimate, no matter the style you’re looking for. The subject invites a photographer to analyze them, to stare at them, and to make a record of what they see. You’ll seldom find such a connection in other walks of life. Being a portrait photographer comes with a lot of pressure, which is why only the best succeed. Below is a round-up of some of our favorite portrait photographers that have excelled at the craft.

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Gear Used for Portrait Photography

Below is a list of the gear used by the photographers in this round-up. Each photographer has their reason for using a particular system, and it’s cool to see what gear each one likes. You will also find links to each piece of gear listed below. For transparency, if you buy something using the link, The Phoblographer gets a little cut. This helps the writing team do what we love and ensures we can keep EIC Chris Gampat stocked with Nutella.

The Portrait Kitchen: Camera: Nikon D600 Lenses: Nikon 50mm Lens, Nikon 85mm lens

Mark Edward Harris: Camera: Nikon D850 Lenses: Nikkor 500mm, Nikkor 300mm

Matteo Verre: Camera: Nikon D610 Lenses: Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm, Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G

Audrey Woulard: Camera: Nikon Z7 Lens: Lens: Nikkor 85mm f1.4

Portrait Photography from the Portrait Kitchen

Working from home is the new normal. For two portrait photographers, home is where they make most of their high-level portraits. Home studios are not a new concept; many portrait photographers use a spare room to do their work. However, The Portrait Kitchen turned to a less used part of the house. The clue is in the name, but if you’re yet to drink coffee, they make portraits in their kitchen! The duo’s main focus is millinery photography. This results in a portfolio rich in class and sophistication. Take a look at the work here.

Mark Edward Harris’ Portrait Photography Has a Loveable Subject

Portraits of humans are cool and all, but they don’t make us scrunch up in a ball of cuteness quite as much as animals do. Mark Edward Harris directed his lens at orangutans, a lovable but not often documented species. His photos show a strong connection between subject and photographer. Some of the orangutans came from horrendous conditions, so it was heartwarming to see Harris document them in a more natural environment. See the work here.

Fat Cats Portrait Photography

We wouldn’t describe cats as being natural extroverts. They like to do their thing and only tend to interact with humans when they want something (food). Well, it seems the cats in this series have had plenty of human interaction. Fat Cats is a series created by Peter Thorne and features plenty of plus-sized models. Although the images are cute, the message is much deeper. Thorne wanted to emphasize that all body types can be beautiful and healthy. Read more about the series here.

Matteo Verre’s Self Portraits Make You Look Twice

Matteo Verre did something more portrait photographers should do: he directed his lens at himself. Creating a series of self-portraits, Verre went on a journey of deep discovery while trying to understand the complexities of his identity. At first glance, some of the portraits seem bizarre, and maybe they are. But if you stick with them, you’ll likely see yourself in the images, as Verre highlights the diversity of the human mind. Take a look here.

Audrey Woulard on Creating The Photograph

Creating The Photograph is our long-running series that looks deeper into how photographs are made. Audrey Woulard is a Nikon ambassador, and she kindly let us look behind the curtain in 2020. In this article, Woulard takes us through each step of her series, Girl in the Woods. From coming up with the concept to doing post-production, you’ll learn how professional portrait photography is made. Read about it here.

Final Thought

Portrait photograp...

“.I think it is more about perceptions of what people think I can/can’t do,” says Jaime Del Pizzo. Born with a severe hearing loss, Del Pizzo finds many areas of life a challenge, including photography. But it’s a challenge she’s accepted and one she fights to overcome on a daily basis. Despite the hurdles she faces, Del Pizzo lives a life rich of adventure, and through that she’s become an extremely talented photographer, armed with a portfolio that shows she’s breaking down her barriers.

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I’ve recently thought about the number of excuses I make when I’m not making photographs. “It’s cold outside,” “my camera is getting old,” or “there’s nothing good to photograph” tend to be the common excuses. All of them are perceived limitations that I create to justify my lack of output. So when I see photographers like Jaime Del Pizzo (a woman with a limitation I’ve never come close to experiencing) creating awesome work, I rightly feel ashamed of the excuses I make. She’s an inspiration to us all and is real-world evidence that despite the struggles you’re faced with, you can still achieve great things. I checked in with Del Pizzo to learn more about her time in the wonderful world of photography.

Phoblographer: Tell us how you got into photography. What inspired you to pick up a camera?

Jaime Del Pizzo: Well, before I got into photography, I picked up a tape recorder. My father was always filming or taking pictures of family events and sports so I had that influence at a very young age. I was gifted my own tape recorder for Christmas one year when I was about 12-13 years old. That started my journey in visual creation. I was initially so inspired by snowboarding and skating films. Later on, I had the opportunity to study abroad in New Zealand for six months. Before I left, I asked my father if I could borrow his DSLR for the trip. He gave me a book on photography basics and his Canon 60D, and that is when I dove into photography. Thus, I would say traveling is what inspired me to first pick up a camera.

Phoblographer: After falling in love and learning the craft, what was the moment you thought, “I could start doing this for a living?”

Jaime Del Pizzo: Throughout my teens, I loved creating videos and realized it could be something to do as a living. Since I was born with a hearing loss, I found solace knowing video required the use of one of my stronger senses. In high school, I took a video class that I really enjoyed so I pursued a major in Film Production throughout college. After college, I moved to Wyoming for a summer to work on a guest ranch. I was able to save up money to buy my first Canon 6D DSLR. After that summer, I moved to Summit County, Colorado, to snowboard. It was there that I got my first job opportunity as a photographer for a rafting company. Since then, I’ve been following that path and have gained experience in different forms of photography.

Phoblographer: Would you be open to discuss your hearing impairment? How does that impact your day-to-day life?

Jaime Del Pizzo: I’m an open book and would love to talk about my hearing loss. I was born with a bilateral severe-profound hearing loss. I wear hearing aids in both ears, and that is essentially how I am able to live my life.

It’s hard to articulate how it impacts my daily life because it is engrained in everything and has very deep impacts that perhaps aren’t talked about enough. It mostly affects the way I communicate with other humans and how I form connections. I rely on lip-reading which comes with a lot of its own challenges and struggles. Even more so now with the pandemic requiring people to wear masks the majority of the time.

I would say it heavily impacts my daily life and for the most part, I’ve been able to adapt, evolve and deal with these challenges to live a very full life of experience. However, there is a lot going on behind closed doors...

Photojournalism and documentary photography share one common goal: to tell the truth. They’re two photographic disciplines where creative license gets put to one side, and pure documentation takes the front seat. It would be unethical to manipulate or stage an image, only to then pass it off as authentic. Sadly, photographers don’t always stick to ethics. Some go their own route for personal gain.

As each year passes, it seems there’s a least one controversial talking point from the world of candid photography. In 2020, the World Press Photo award was under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. And this year, several sources online are highlighting an issue with the Environmental Photographer of the Year (EPOTY) award.

Editors note: Although we are reporting and offering an opinion on this story,The Phoblographer isn’t accusing anyone of staging or manipulating photographs.

The Background of the Environmental Photographer of the Year

Twitter user @duckrabbitblog (real name Benjamin C.) started this thread talking about the winning photo of EPOTY. He raised his concerns about the authenticity of the winning series of images, suggesting there’s a possibility they were staged.

The opening of the thread starts with three questions:

“1: Why is the child sleeping in the sun?2: Why is the child sleeping in an abandoned house?3: Is it because the child is Black that the judges don’t ask these questions?”

Benjamin C. believes that the photographer in question (Antonio Aragón Renuncio) may have staged the scenes to make the child/children look like they’re struggling more than they are. He suggests Renuncio exaggerated a situation for his personal gain, that being the $10,000 he received for winning the award.

In an email exchange, Benjamin C. told me he had the images tested to see if they were digitally manipulated. He found no evidence of this being the case.

Did Renuncio stage the images? I can’t say. However, having spent many years in developing countries, I’m yet to see a situation that replicates those from the award-winning images. But that’s not where the controversy ends.

EYTOP Rules

After coming under immense pressure to comment on the allegations of staged images, EYTOP released a statement. In it was said the following:

“There have been important questions raised regarding the staging of images selected for publication by the competition. While staging is not specifically barred in our 2021 competition rules and guidelines, the discussion on how our competition protects the rights and dignity of vulnerable populations is an important one that we take very seriously.”

So, where’s the problem? The conversation regarding our environment is toxic at best. The extreme opinions held on both ends of the spectrum fight over humanity’s contribution to the decline of our natural world. Meanwhile, those in the middle try to make sense of it all by carrying out informed, balanced research. We cannot underestimate photography’s role in how we tackle things like climate change. With that, I think we need to be as transparent as possible when we report on the real-world impacts of our actions on our environment.

EYTOP saying it’s essentially okay to stage a narrative completely removes any credibility the organization has. Considering the thousands of dollars up for grabs, it encourages photographers to make emotionally charged narratives rather than honest, transparent ones.

And there’s a second message being sent: it’s okay to exploit those in the developing world if it means you’ll get a good set of photographs. If the winning photographer did stage the images, that means they asked young children to lay on the floor and look like they’re suffering. Let that thought sink in.

The statement is nothing more than covering the organization’s back, rather than those potentially being exploited.

Global Reporting

Another issue here is that these stories are being picked up by large publications like CNN. When reporting on the winning ph...

“I think having a vision as a photographer is more important than just having the most expensive equipment,” says LA-based photographer Dave Tada. He’s been uploading at least one new analogue photo per day to his Tumblr page for the last 11 years. That’s no major feat when we think of how easy it is to take a digital photo these days. But my head spins when I try to calculate how much he might have spent on all that film for this project.

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Putting the focus where it matters the most, Dave Tada raises an essential point to those who feel getting the latest gear can make us better photographers. And let’s be honest; we’ve all been guilty of this feeling at some point or the other in our careers. I’m not averse to photographers getting newer gear if it helps achieve their creative vision. However, the issue arises when photographers assume that purchasing that latest lens or camera can actually help us find our vision when there may have never been one. Hats off to Dave’s commitment to keeping his analog Tumblr page alive and active on a daily basis for so long. Keeping a steady flow of analog content to a blog isn’t easy.

The Essential Photo Gear Used by Dave Tada

Dave told us:

Leica M4

Leica M5

Leica M7

Leica CL

Leica CLE

Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH

Minolta m-rokkor 40mm lens

Voigtlander 50mm 1.5 ii

Contax G2

Contax T3

Contax TVS III

Konica Hexar AF

Canon 1V

Rolleiflex 2.8e

Fuji GS645

Hasselblad 503cw

Contax 645

Mamiya 6

Mamiya 7

Olympus OM4T

Nikon FE2

Minolta X700

Yashica T4

Nikon L35 AF

Rollei AFM35

Fuji Klasse S

Minolta TC1

I have a strong suspicion Dave might have left out a camera or two there. What an impressive list this is!

Most of my disposable income goes back into buying more cameras. If I’m shooting with strobes, I use Profoto D1s and recently picked up some Godox AD300s since they’re compact, light and battery powered.

The Phoblographer: Please tell us about your life and what brought you to the world of photography.

Dave Tada: I live in sunny Los Angeles, California, and work as a freelance fashion/editorial photographer. I originally got into photography in high school, wanting to document all of my important life events, and thought my career path would lead me to be a documentary photographer or photojournalist. I wanted to be the next Henri Cartier Bresson, Mary Ellen Mark, or Lauren Greenfield. Later on, I became interested in fashion photography and was inspired by Nick Knight, Helmut Newton, David LaChapelle, amongst many others.

The Phoblographer: Tell us what fascinates you about analog photography? Is it the experience itself, the thought process, the development, the anticipation?

Dave Tada: I do have an unhealthy love of film cameras and how they all make me shoot in a different way. I think they all have their own personality. Also, for me, film has such a unique look that sometimes feels familiar, yet also otherworldly. I shoot digital for work, and it serves its purpose for that. However, it’s a bit too sterile and perfect looking, in my opinion.

The Phoblographer: “Check back every day for a new image.” How hard (or not) is it to keep this up on your Tumblr feed, especially since it’s all analog work.

Dave Tada: Over the years, it’s just become part of my daily ritual. I just realized it’s been going for over 11 years now (crazy).

The Phoblographer: Does your website and feed lead to more commercial and paid work for you or is it just an extended hobby?

Dave Tada: I have picked up a few clients over the years, but at this point, it’s really mostly for myself since all my friends have since left Tumblr, except for John Sypal (tokyocamerastyle). He still likes my photos on there.

The Phoblographer: Do you feel people these days, especially strangers, are more receptive to having their pictures taken on analog cameras rather than being a digital subject?

Dave Tada: Some people have expressed an interest in film photography when I’ve asked them to s...

Tamron’s zoom lenses are pretty spectacular. Photographing birds? There are two you might really like. For the past few years, Tamron has become one of our favorite third-party lens manufacturers. Their lenses are fast to focus, compact, lightweight, and built incredibly well. On Sony cameras, they’re incredibly durable if not some of the most durable out there. After the jump, you can find all the Tamron lens deals currently available.

These Tamron Lens savings start 11/15/21 and run through 1/2/22.

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Tamron 150-500: $100 off

“Fatherhood has shaped my perspective,” the Tokyo-based photographer Laurence Bouchard tells me. “Having a daughter has changed the kind of places I visit, and without a doubt, I’ve found some very cool locations that I would never have been to otherwise. My wife usually works on Sundays, so I make a deal with my daughter: we go somewhere that interests me and somewhere she wants to go.”

Editors Note: Some readers are bound to find some comments made by Laurence controversial. The Phoblographer understands that. And while none of the statements made by Laurence reflect the views of the publication, we still feel it’s fair, and safe, to give him a platform to discuss his photography.

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Bouchard’s black and white street photography evokes a keen sense of wonder and adventure–one felt often in childhood but forgotten as we grow up. His pictures, made mostly in Japan, speak to the joys of chance encounters, the anticipation of going someplace different, and the mysteries of strangers in the city. In his world, ordinary scenes thrum with the possibility of discovery.

“One magical moment for me was photographing my daughter at the Opera City in Shinjuku,” the artist says. “She was at that age when everything was new, and the photo had a real sci-fi feel to it.” That idea of rediscovering daily life anew, as if seeing things for the very first time, runs throughout Bouchard’s work. You can find it in the umbrella-clad pedestrians, the blissful beachgoers, the commuters with briefcases, and the bicyclists in motion.

Laurence Bouchard was recently named Mobiography Photographer of the Year 2021 as part of the Mobiography Awards. We had a chance to ask him a few questions about his city and his work.

The essential gear of Laurence Bouchard

iPhone X

Sony A7r II

Bouchard tells us,

“I would say having a choice of cameras is key to the work I do, as I also have a Sony A7rii in addition to the iPhone. What I will say is I like to shoot with both and see which images I prefer when I get home. Having said that, the smartphone is always with you, and carrying an SLR around all the time isn’t always practical and can be tiring. I have felt some frustration with the wide-angle of the iPhone 10, but my wife has the iPhone 12, and I love the wide-angle on that. I’m thinking of updating to the iPhone 13 for the cinematic video soon.”

Phoblographer: What brought you to Tokyo, and what is it about this city that inspired you to become a photographer?

Laurence Bouchard: I met my Japanese wife while living in London. She had to return to Tokyo to start a job there, and after a few visits, I decided to make the move. Before moving to Tokyo in 2009, I hadn’t had a camera for about ten years after breaking my film camera. I got my first iPhone when I moved here and realized the potential it had for photography.

Initially, everything in Japan felt fresh, which helped a lot. I never set out to become a photographer. It was more something that I stumbled into and became more passionate about. One thing that inspired me was the rainy, neon-coated Blade Runner scenes I’d encounter on my way home from work. The other was the abundance of interesting modern architecture coupled with a lot of strong sunlight.

Phoblographer: You were recently named Mobiography Photographer of the Year as part of the first Mobiography Awards, with top honors in the street and urban category going to your photo Vacant Vacation. Could you share the story behind this photo?

Laurence Bouchard: That was shot in April 2020 during the fifteen days to flatten the curve. I cycled to Shinjuku and shot the crossing from above. Usually, it would have been really busy but, due to the situation, it was pretty dead. I shot some with my Sony camera and then some with the iPhone. Luckily, as I shot with the iPhone, this guy crossed with a suitcase, and I really loved the shot when I got back home. In fact, there was hardly any editing required.

A...

“When an artist is recognized by style, it is like a business card,” says surreal light painter Nikolay Trebukhin. A man of few words who lets his work speak for itself, Nikolay finds inspiration in almost everything for his nighttime creations. Switching to an Olympus (now rebranded as the OM System) camera has greatly aided his photography.

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The newer OM System micro four-thirds cameras have a lot of features many full-frame cameras don’t. One of these is their Live Composite feature. This fantastic setting is helpful for long exposure photographers, whereby only newer, bright light sources are added onto the exposure. With this mode set on, the problem of overexposure of the frame gets taken care of. Think of it as an in-camera composite, with all the bright portions of the frame overlaying neatly over the dark areas. This is an absolute lifesaver for light painting photographers. I first learned about it from my friend Prakash. Despite being a Nikon user, he prefers to borrow a colleague’s OM-D E-M1 Mark III as it greatly reduces his time to make light painting exposures. Nikolay concurs with this, and he uses Live Composite almost exclusively in all his surreal light painting images after switching to the OM System.

The Essential Photo Gear Used by Nikolay Trebukhin

Nikolay told us:

Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera

Olympus 12-40 f2.8 lens

I found out that Olympus cameras have a special “live composite” mode, which allows you to see what is happening in the frame in real time. I purchased such a camera. This is the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with a 12-40 2.8 lens. This radically changes everything, you can fix it or start over if something went wrong. Accordingly, the time for creating a drawing has decreased and there are more chances to do something else besides the planned one.

The Phoblographer: Hi Nikolay. Please tell us about yourself and how you got into photography.

Nikolay Trebukhin: Hi. Photography was not my main hobby. But I always liked it. In 2014, on the Internet, I saw several photos made using the technique of drawing with light. I wondered how it was done. I began to look for information and, based on it, try to do something similar. I succeeded, and I began to develop it further.

The Phoblographer: Your light painting images are diverse in appearance. Where do you look for inspiration for each image. How quickly do these ideas come to you?

Nikolay Trebukhin: Ideas are just floating around. I am constantly generating something. Basically, these are fantasies that will not come to fruition. But some of this is embodied in the light. Any picture, video, film, advertisement, and the like provide food for thought.

The Phoblographer: Light leakage must be such a headache in these images. What do you do to minimise this phenomenon?

Nikolay Trebukhin: The advantage of the “live composite” mode is that only the light that is brighter than the first frame gets to the sensor. Therefore, a passing car or a sudden flash of light can disrupt the frame.

The Phoblographer: Apart from flashlights, you’re also not averse to using accessories such as smoke machines and light grenades. Have you had unforeseen incidents while using these any time?

Nikolay Trebukhin: When using smoke, grenades, fireworks and open fire, the main thing is not to get carried away. And observe safety precautions. I’m alive; small burns do not count.

The Phoblographer: It’s an art for sure, but have you developed a signature style of your own that is instantly recognisable? Do you consider this to be an important characteristic for artists?

Nikolay Trebukhin: I think yes; judging by the reviews, many people recognize me without looking at the attribution.but nothing prevents you from deviating from the direction and experimenting.

The Phoblographer: Especially when a lot of external factors are involved, what do you do to change things around if your initial few exposures don’t result in the kind of image you’...

“During the pandemic, my eight-year-old son William was really struggling to sleep,” photographer Nicky Hamilton tells me. “He was filled with anxiety, thinking that the world was going to end. It was witnessing this that made me want to portray my family’s lockdown story.”

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The result became The Upside Down, a surreal portrait of domestic life amid the pandemic. During those uncertain days, Hamilton and his family spent time in the studio, where he’d constructed detailed sets, including a make-believe bathroom and kitchen. William had questions about the future; Henry, his brother, missed his girlfriend, football, and school. They were scared and lonely, and they channeled their frustrations into telling a story together.

In the studio, the kitchen became a ball pit, meant to mimic the local play center where the family had spent their Saturdays pre-lockdown. The bathroom became a swimming pool, flooded with water and light. The magical, dreamlike world they created might have been fictional, but it echoed the reality of what was going on inside their heads.

Hamilton’s kids emerged from lockdown with memories unlike any experienced by their parents’ generation. They navigated pain, terror, and frustration, but they also found reason to hope. “After the initial onset of worry and fear, we knew we had to keep their spirits up, so it was constant reassurance from me and my wife,” the artist says. “We kept the news off the TV, and we celebrated with them that they didn’t have to go to school. We turned the period of lockdown into a fun and safe place for them to be in.”

We asked him more about the series.

The essential gear of Nicky Hamilton

Leica S3

Elmarit-S 45mm f2.8 ASPH lens

HMI, Kino Flo, DEO, Source Four, and Creamsource lighting

Hamilton tells us, “I shot this project mainly on a Leica S3, which was on loan from Leica Germany, who was really interested in showcasing the project in their magazine. The lighting was a mixture of HMI’s, Kino Flo’s, Deo’s, and Source 4’s. I also had a very new and exciting Creamsource on loan too, which was great to play with. The lighting design was done by myself. I opted for a surreal color palette to promote an almost dreamlike quality to the concepts.”

Phoblographer: You became a photographer after a career as Head of Art at M&C Saatchi. What first drew you to set building and this labor-intensive approach to making pictures?

Nicky Hamilton: I wanted to create a tableau series of photographs based on my childhood called The Lonely Man. I was recreating memories and wanted everything to be perfect, so I decided that building sets for each of the pictures would be the best approach. During the three years it took to create the series, I fell in love with the process of creating a picture from scratch rather than finding one.

Phoblographer: What was going through your mind during the early days of lockdown, and in what ways, if any, do you think those feelings influenced your approach to this project?

Nicky Hamilton: Like most people, I was consumed with fear. The world I knew seemed to change overnight. It was a “lock-yourself-in-and-hope-the-storm-would-pass” moment. William not being able to sleep and having nightmares that the world was going to end and seeing the fear in his face is something that will stay with me for a long time.

Phoblographer: Your kids are eight and 14 years old–is that right? What was it like to work with them?

Nicky Hamilton: That’s correct. They’re both great to work with. Henry, 14, likes to strike a deal for time and payment and reminds me when that time is nearly up! My other son William, 8, is just brilliant. He offers up ideas and takes direction really well. It’s honestly a real pleasure to work with them both.

Phoblographer: You built this upside-down bathroom and kitchen yourself. Please tell us a bit about this massive undertaking. What steps were involved in the designing and building?

Nicky Hamilto...

If there is anything out there that is easy to lust after, it’s the Polaroid 600SE. I mean, what’s not to love? They’re rangefinder cameras that have sharp glass and can take various film formats? More importantly, the camera is heavily supported by the hacked and modding community. And you can take the dive in with this simple Polaroid 600SE available at the Rare Camera Store.

Welcome to the Rare Camera Store: a joint initiative of The Phoblographer and the wonderful folks at Blue Moon Camera. We work to bring you some of the coolest and rarest items for a great price.

The Phoblographer partners up with Blue Moon Camera for the Rare Camera Store initiative. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from folks who don’t touch the product. Sometimes you can’t trust eBay. But we trust Blue Moon for sure! Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The Awesome Polaroid 600SE

The Polaroid 600SE is one of those truly awesome cameras. It’s very closely related to the Mamiya Press camera, and therefore it’s very versatile. It can take a variety of camera backs. And over the years, there are tons of hacks that have come about. The listing at Blue Moon Camera for $500 says:

“This Polaroid 600 SE (serial number MAM8020B) camera kit comes with the Polaroid 600 SE body, a Mamiya 127mm f4.7 lens, and a Polaroid film back.

The cable release is missing its thread and is therefore useless.”

Otherwise, they note it’s in incredible condition. If you already have Pack film in our fridge, this is the perfect camera to use it with. But if you don’t, then you can try to get some of the other camera backs available for this camera. There are roll film backs, large format backs, and even Instax Square backs! You can see a lot of those right here.

Best of all, there are interchangeable lenses. The lens selection isn’t as large as some other camera systems. But the special sauce here is that you can use a ton of different film formats. What’s more, you can get manual control. Why not try to shoot Instax Wide or Square with this camera? I mean, Instax Mini is more or less the 645 format. This one camera can cover all of those formats pretty effortlessly.

Fun Facts about the Polaroid 600SE

Here are some great, fun tidbits about the Polaroid 600SE:

There’s a Flickr group dedicated to this camera and all it can do. A search shows lots of expired film scans. Of course, this is all just part of the lo-fi world and the charm of using these cameras. But with the right film back, these things are absolute beasts. You probably may never need another medium format or instant film camera again.

The Polaroid 600SE has been called the best Instant Film camera ever made. With an aluminum body, manual adjustments, rangefinder, and versatility, it’s easy to see why this is the case.

The Polaroid 600SE and the Mamiya Universal/Press Camera are very similar. The Polaroid camera was actually based off the Mamiya’s. But they’re not totally interchangeable. Some folks prefer the Mamiya variant. But in recent years, I’ve read about folks liking the Polaroid version more.

Lots of folks like the Mamiya RB67 for the fact that it can use various film formats. But if you want something far lighter, the Polaroid 600SE is the way to go. Mamiya gets very, very heavy after a while. And you really need the right strap with a camera like that. Trust me, I used to own one.

Is there a more universal focal length than 50mm? I love being able to throw a 50mm lens onto my camera because I can use it for almost everything. When I first started photographing in the digital age, it’s the only focal length I owned for several years. It also seems to be one of Leica’s favorite focal lengths as well. The Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux lens is a moderately priced offering amongst their lineup. So how does it stack up?

You can view this article and much more with minimal ads in our brand new app for iOS, iPadOS, and Android.

Table of Contents

Too Long Didn’t Read

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Tech Specs

Innovations

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Focusing

Ease of Use

Image Quality

Bokeh

Sharpness

Lens Character

Color Rendering

Extra Image Samples

Edited

Unedited

Conclusions of the Leica Summilux 50mm f1.4 Lens Review

Conclusions of the Leica Summilux 50mm f1.4 Lens

Likes

Dislikes

Too Long Didn’t Read

The compact Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux lens is a standard lens with a moderate price tag in the Leica lineup. Images are sharp with plenty of bokeh and beautiful tones. The lens has plenty of character, including a naturally occurring vignette. Although, it doesn’t have quite as much of the pop Leica lenses are known for.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Compact and versatile

Well-built

It’s well-built

Beautiful tones

Sharp

Plenty of bokeh

Great in low light

Cons

It doesn’t have as much pop as the Summicron

It doesn’t have as much pop as the Summicron-APO

Not fully weather-sealed

Gear Used

We tested the Leica Summilux 50mm lens with a Leica M10-R from LensRentals. We also used the Broncolor Siros L 800ws and a Broncolor Para 88.

Tech Specs

All tech specs are from the LensRentals listing.

Angle of view : 47 degrees

Aperture: f1.4-16

Autofocus: Manual Focus Ony

Brand: Leica

Diameter: 2.1″

Dimensions: Length – 2.1″

Filter Size: 46.0mm (non rotating)

Filter Style: nonrotating

Focal Length: 50.0-50.0

Groups/Elements: 5/8

Hood Included: No

Image Stabilization: No

Item Tye: Lens

Lens Type: Normal Range

Max Aperture: 1.4

Maximum Magnification: .09x

Minimum Aperture: 22.0

Minimum Focusing Distance: 2.3 feet

Mount: Leica M

Weight: 11.8 oz.

Innovations

The Leica Summilux 50mm f1.4 lens isn’t very innovative. It’s a standard 50mm lens and follows the renowned design that is synonymous with Leica. If anything, it’s one of the few lenses with a built-in lens hood.

Ergonomics

The compact Summilux 50mm f1.4 lens measures slightly over two inches in length and weighs under 12 ounces. Like other Leica lenses, it is cute and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand.

The design is reminiscent of other lenses in the Leica family. The depth of field scale is at the bottom of the lens and closest to the lens mount.

The focusing ring is a smooth metal with a U-shaped finger rest. It is very comfortable and glides effortlessly.

A click-style aperture ring is next and situated before the built-in lens hood. It is a combination of smooth and textured metal. The various textures allow you to feel the lens and make adjustments without having to look away from the viewfinder.

Build Quality

The Summilux 50mm f1.4 lens is a compact workhorse. It looks and feels solid. The lens is made of quality metal, and everything glides smoothly. Although Leica has told us that their lenses are built with weather sealing in mind, the lens is not weather-sealed. The Summilux survived the cooler temperatures of late autumn and a light coating of sleet without any issues.

Focusing

The Leica 50mm Summilux lens is a manual focus lens. Like the other 50mm lenses in the family, it can also focus at .7 meters. This is ideal for portraits and closer crops. The depth of field scale is great when zone focusing and is quick to achieve focus. I also enjoy getting lost in the scene and slowly focusing on my subject. It’s nice to be an integral part of the image-making process instead of relying on automation.

Ease of Use

This is not a lens for beginners. If you speak autofocus as a primary...